Good news on the European economic front: the historic plunge in private sector activity in the euro zone was slowed down in June with the reopening of large areas of activity that had been closed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, according to the IHS Markit firm.
The rebound in the composite index from its historic low in April (13.6), which started in May (31.9), continued in June to reach 47.5, a stronger than expected rebound.
The activity starts again, but beware it is still subject to untimely stops like in West Germany which reconfigured 600,000 people after having positively tested 1,500 people in a slaughterhouse.
Identify the cost of social distancing
Everyone now has to distance themselves and apply barrier gestures. On the ground, the instructions are clear: masks, hydroalcoholic gel, disinfectant wipes to clean trucks and compliance with safety distances of 1m to 2m minimum.
To our knowledge, there are no precise cost measurements in glass. However, we can try to approach it with approaching businesses.
Thus, in logistics where the wage bill represents more than 50% of expenses, the priority protection of employees has generated significant additional costs. The TLF Union consulted its members in early May on the additional costs associated with Covid-19. Here are the results post by post:
- personal protective equipment: 2.50 euros per day and per employee on average;
- fitting out of premises: 0.15 euro per square meter per month for logistics warehouses;
- loss of productivity: up to - 15%.
For glass processing workshops such as ToughGlaze in the UK which describes the measures implemented:
- the cost of PPE must be similar, ie 2.5 euros per day per employee; the cost of masks, gloves, gel, wipes, soap, disposable towels, training in barrier gestures and protective equipment, management of work clothes and strengthening of management must be taken into account,
- the cost of fitting out the premises must be higher because the activity density per m2 is 3 to 4 times greater, ie 0.6 euros per m2; it includes the materialization of workspaces, the reinforced cleaning of premises and changing rooms, the disinfection of premises, the refitting of working and reception spaces with partitions made of cardboard, plexiglass or of course glass ...
- loss of productivity (up to -15%) at least equivalent, because the adaptation of process methods to respect social distancing, those of working hours, the staggering of breaks, stopping activity for disinfection or increased absenteeism should not be overlooked.
For the distribution of glass by truck, the National Road Committee, a body overseeing transport costs (CNR), considers an average additional cost of 2.5% of the cost price: local / regional distribution being more impacted (2.64 %).
Put end to end, the costs of covid-19 come to impact the structure of the cost price of glass without there being for the moment, the possibility of passing them on to customers who also have to manage their own costs of prevention covid -19.
Social distancing: a business for glass
Like Pierre Riou (Riou Glass) who presented his latest innovation to France 3 television cameras by creating the first self-disinfecting heating glass, the Covid-19 can also be an opportunity to do business.
Dillmeier Glass Company located in the US explains on its blog that the cost of tempered glass and that of its installation are two times cheaper than that of Plexiglass. There is therefore a real competitive advantage in protecting the staff who welcome visitors with tempered glass.
These two examples show the way, although this probably will not compensate for the cost of internal treatment of the coronavirus. It will therefore certainly be necessary to adapt its processes and work differently to reduce the financial impact. We think of digital of course. We will talk about this later.
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